Five ways to appreciate your pets on World Animal Day

It’s almost World Animal Day and it makes sense to take some time to appreciate your pet and remind ourselves of the unconditional love they give.

There’s plenty more benefits too!

Benefits of pets:

• Increased health, which means fewer visits to the doctor.
• Increased physical activity, mainly id you have a dog.
• Love and affections that helps with mental wellness

You’d think I would have heaps of pets considering I’ve posted about snails, mealworms, crickets, worms and fish.

I posted about our dogs yet and they are very important member sof out family.  I’m not ashamed to say that Sam and Caddy, our Maltese cross Silky Terriers, were our children before our children came along.

So, with World Animal Day right around the corner on October 4th, here are few ways to appreciate your pets.

Appreciate pets on World Animal Day

1. Take them for a walk.

If your pet is mobile, take them for a walk. Most dogs (and some cats and guinea pigs) love going for a little stroll outside. You may not be able to take some pets for a walk though, so give their enclosure some new furnishings instead.

2. Draw pet portraits.

Sketch some beautiful pet portraits. Miss Possum and I spent some time sketching our animals yesterday . It’s a relaxing experience that allows you to take notice of the wonderful little adaptations your pet has on their body to help them live.  We talked about body coverings, eyes, gills, noses and scales.  This is a perfect activity if you have pet fish too.

3. Give them enrichment.

In a wildlife park we regularly stimulate our animals to keep them from getting bored by scattering their food, placing different smells around their enclosures and more.  We do this for our dogs too (I’ll have to write a post on this) but this time we enriched their life by giving them an extra special treat inside a recycled cardboard box.

4. Play with them.

Play with your pet, brush their hair or just letting them sit on your lap. There’s nothing more our dogs love than some undivided attention. Of course, if your pet doesn’t really want attention at that moment, wait until they do.

Best you don’t play with your fish but I’ve heard they don’t mind if you chat their ear off either.

5.  Give them a present.

It’s World Animal Day after all, why not pamper them?  A new bed,  a toy that the kids no longer want or a special treat? I think most pets love presents. I know my cheeky puppies do!

I’m sure there are many more ways you could spoil your pets. How do you appreciate your pet?